Following the application of power, the state into which an analog or digital system settles will not be known a priori unless special care is taken. This situation is the result of the fact that some circuits, such as flip-flops in digital circuits, do not inherently favor one condition or state over another. Instead, due to noise and other random influences, they typically end up in one state or the other with more or less equal probability. Often this is an undesirable situation as it can lead to unpredictable results in system functioning. To alleviate such situations, power-on reset circuits are often included in the design of digital and analog systems. The intent of a power-on reset circuit is to force a given system or circuit into a known state during system power-up. Circuitry internal to the system or signals from an external source can be used to place the system in a known state.